African American Heritage Water Trail

The African American Heritage Water Trail begins here. Beaubien Woods is part of the  Forest Preserves of Cook County  and comprises 300 acres of natural areas along the Little Calumet River. The access it offers to the river and Flatfoot Lake is prized by nearby residents for fishing; the lake is stocked with catfish by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. The Forest Preserves of Cook County was created in 1914 to protect open areas within the county and is the oldest and largest forest preserve district in the country. Since its creation, 70,000 acres of open space has been protected.

2023 saw the installation of a  gathering space  marking the start of the trail. The space references the journeys undertaken by travelers on Chicago's Underground Railroad.

Directly across the river from the Beaubien Woods Boat Ramp is a broad hill; this is a landfill, one of many that surround the Beaubien area. The concentration of landfills in this area is one of the reasons that Altgeld Gardens was once said to exist within a “toxic donut.” Today this landfill has been capped with clay to contain toxins. 

To the east of the boat ramp are the Michigan Central Railroad and the Michigan Southern Railroads. In the decades before the Civil War, between 3,000 and 5,000 people fleeing slavery came into the Chicago and Calumet regions. Roughly one-third traveled on to Detroit by train on these rail lines which were completed in 1852. 

This well-traveled freeway was named for Bishop Louis Henry Ford upon his death in 1995. With a lifetime of ministry in the Chicago area and strong ties to the local community, Bishop Ford was a strong advocate for jobs, housing, and education. In 1955, he preached the funeral of Emmett Till. He was the fourth leader of the Church of God in Christ, the world’s largest African American Pentecostal denomination with over 8.5 million members.

This charter school was named for teacher, mentor, and state champion basketball coach Larry Hawkins. A tireless advocate who worked for years in Altgeld Gardens, Hawkins was also the director of a University of Chicago outreach program that guided low income minority students to higher education. Carol Mosely Braun, the first African American woman to become a United States senator, is a graduate of his program.

In 2016, 130th St. was re-named for the Altgeld Gardens resident who launched the national environmental justice movement. Hazel Johnson documented hundreds of environmental health problems in her community and set about holding the perpetrators responsible, demanding enforcement of pollution laws. In the 1980s, future President Barack Obama worked with her as a community organizer. Johnson received a presidential award for her work in 1992, and in 1994, President Clinton signed Executive Order 12898 “Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations.” In 1979, Johnson founded the non-profit People for Community Recovery. Today it is run by her daughter, Cheryl Johnson, and the work for environmental and economic justice continues.

This neighborhood is the site of one of the first public housing developments in the U.S. It was built in 1943-44 by the Department of Housing and Urban Development for African American veterans returning from World War II, many of whom worked in the steel mills. Residents of Altgeld describe a tight community culture where neighbors provide for each other. In the past this has resulted in the creation of amenities like home operated candy stores (after the large candy store, on the Little Calumet River near the present day baseball field, called Sims closed), as well as supportive neighbors who help each other with chores and childcare. Housing planners designed Altgeld using the British “garden cities” outside London as a model.

This neighborhood of single-family houses is home to the non-profit,  We Keep You Rollin’ (Bike & Wellness Group) , led by long term neighborhood organizer Deloris Lucas, which provides bicycles for community use on the quiet tree lined streets. The organization plays an important role in the community, offering transportation options and access to healthy activities for residents including eco-tours of the area.  

On the east side of the historic Ton Farm and along 134th Place, residents have tended gardens and row-crops for more than 75 years in the tradition of their forebears. A century ago, 13 percent of the farms in America were operated by African Americans. Many families coming north during the Great Migration remembered these roots; some sought open space in Cook County to plant gardens and crops while others moved to settle in small suburbs like Robbins, Ford Heights, and Pembroke Township in Kankakee County.

The farm of Dutch immigrants Jon and Antje Ton (which they purchased in 1853) was a stop on the Underground Railroad for freedom seekers on their journey to Canada. Although the farmhouse no longer exists, the site is part of the National Park Service’s “Network to Freedom” and is commemorated with a historical marker. The rough location of the site can be seen from the river on the north bank by the ComEd power lines and Chicago’s Finest Marina. 

The oldest black-owned marina in the Chicago region was built in the 1950s for African American families and boaters who experienced discrimination at other marinas. The current owner continues to honor the unique history of the property which sits on part of the former Ton Farm Underground Railroad site.

The banks of the river and landscape are very different today from when freedom seekers were making their journeys and the Tons were farming. Then, prairies, wetlands and woodlands prevailed along with a great variety of native species. Now the river is lined with tall fluffy topped grasses called Phragmites, an invasive species that outcompetes native plants and displaces wildlife. It grows in thick stands and makes the shore seem less accessible from the water than it probably would have appeared in pre-civil war times. Phragmites thrives in disturbed and polluted conditions. Today, Openlands and other area conservation organizations are working in some river corridor areas to restore the landscape. Some native species, such as the bald eagle, have since returned and can be seen along the river. Other wildlife common on the Little Calumet includes coyotes, cormorants, and wading birds such as egrets and herons. 

Hundreds of freedom seekers crossed the river here, at present day Indiana Avenue, on their way to Canada via Chicago or Detroit. Abolitionists George Dolton and his sons built a ferry in 1836, followed a few years later by a bridge. In the decades before the Civil War, roughly one third of the freedom seekers who came into the Chicago and Calumet regions traveled on foot and by wagon and coach, using the ferry and bridges. 

The railroad has always played a key role in the movement of African Americans from south to north. Over a hundred freedom seekers traveled by rail from southern Illinois, some hidden and others as ticket-holders, many helped by an African American railroad employee in Cairo, IL named George Burroughs. Years later, during the Great Migration when 7 million African Americans left the south, half a million people came by rail to Chicago seeking better economic opportunities. This remarkable movement had a big impact on the growth of black neighborhoods in the city, and over the past eighty years, many family members settled here at the south edge of Chicago.

The Forest Preserves of Cook County’s canoe launch on the Upper Little Calumet River at Kickapoo Woods is 2.8 miles southeast of the African American Heritage Water Trail. The river here flows northwest, toward the African American Heritage Water Trail, following a wooded stretch through forest preserves. 

African American farmers, gardeners, and residents once relied heavily on the Little Calumet River for clean water and abundant fishing. Today, to improve water quality in the river, the  Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago  has created several side stream elevated pool aeration (SEPA) stations. These stations pump water from the river into an elevated pool where it then flows over a series of waterfalls back into the river. As it tumbles over the falls, it mixes with air, resulting in greater oxygen levels in the water, improving the ability of the river to support fish and other aquatic life.   

This bridge was named for Marshall “Major” Taylor, the first African American international sports star. Taylor was a world champion bicycle rider who raced across America and Europe at the turn of the 20th century. He is buried in Mt. Glenwood Memorial Gardens in Thornton, several miles south of the bridge. A mural on the bridge honors Major Taylor and his accomplishments. The bridge is part of the Major Taylor Trail, a bicycle trail that passes through Cook County Forest Preserve Whistler Woods on the south bank and continues north across the river. 

Paddlers Please Note: The next bridge you see is the Halsted St. Bridge. Once you pass under it, the river will split after a half mile (click arrow on Major Taylor image above to view). To paddle another four and a half miles through Robbins and to the Alsip Boat Ramp, keep going straight along the right fork. To end your trip at the Little Calumet Boat Launch, follow the left fork; the take out will be on your left after a half mile.

The Forest Preserves of Cook County’s boat launch marks the approximate halfway point of the Heritage Water Trail.  

In 1915, Western Avenue became part of the Dixie Highway, a network of roads from Ohio, Michigan, and Illinois that took travelers south to Miami. The development of highways for tourism led to vastly different experiences for white and black Americans. From 1936 until 1964, the famous “Green Book” identified lodging, food and gas locations where African Americans would be welcome along the Dixie and other routes across the country.

Just east of the bridge is a potential future launch site in the Village of Robbins. Currently, paddlers of the African American Heritage Water Trail must continue west towards Alsip for takeout.  

One of the few towns in the U.S. that was governed at its incorporation (in 1917) by African Americans, Robbins offered a welcoming suburban setting to some of the thousands of African Americans moving to the Chicago area during the Great Migration. There they were able to start businesses and build homes in ways that were impossible elsewhere. Throughout its history, Robbins has boasted a local economy that supports African American entrepreneurs and wealth creation. 

Located at 3644 139th Street in Robbins, this  important local museum  tells the remarkable history of the Village.  

A few blocks away, the Fuller House was built by Samuel B. Fuller, a businessman who became one of the richest African Americans of the 20th Century. It has been donated to the Robbins History Museum in the hope that it can be renovated to provide a new home for the museum. The Museum is  accepting donations to fund this project .

The first grocery stores in the Robbins area opened in the 1880s and were both owned and operated by black women, Sarah Springs and Jennie Smith. From this initial two store competition, the economy in Robbins grew exponentially as new businesses launched to serve the everyday needs of residents. Today, the Claire Blvd. corridor is the commercial heart of the Village, hosting established enterprises as well as more informal businesses at the bustling flea market that operates several times each week.  

Known as the “birthplace of Robbins,” the home of Village Trustee Richard Flowers is where the initial vote took place that led to the incorporation of Robbins. Richard Flowers became the third mayor of Robbins. Here families of modest means were able to own land and develop it as they liked. Flexible building codes allowed for individualized houses more typical of rural settings, often including kitchen gardens and small home businesses. Thomas J. Kellar, Robbins’ first mayor noted, "Our people in Robbins are mostly people who get tired of the white fights and the crowded city. They come out here to raise chickens, make gardens, and be a little more free.” (Quote from "CHICAGO BOASTS ALL-NEGRO TOWN - Robbins, ILL has Negro Mayor and Board of Trustees - Town's Population is 2500 with 11 Churches". The Pittsburgh Courier: 3. September 24, 1938.)

Although the Robbins Airport was only open from 1931-33, it played an important role in U.S. aviation history as the first airport built, owned and operated by and for African Americans thanks to two visionary pilots: Cornelius Coffey and John Robinson. The flight school that developed as a result of their efforts trained many African American pilots, ten of whom went on to become Tuskegee Airmen, helping to secure allied victory in World War II.  

Also called Howes Landing, the Alsip Boat Launch is the western terminus for paddlers of the African American Heritage Water Trail. The Alsip Boat Launch is open seasonally from April 1st to October 31st, it is principally for power boats but can also be used for canoes and kayaks. Parking and launch fees apply.  

Lincoln Cemetery opened in 1911 after a group of African American funeral directors requested that Raymond Olsen, the owner of Oak Hill Cemetery in Chicago, devote land for a cemetery devoted to African Americans. Many famous African-Americans are buried here, including poet Gwendolyn Brooks, pilot Willa Brown who learned to fly at Robbins airport and taught at the flight school that sent some of the first students to Tuskegee, and many musicians including Lil Armstrong and Jug Ammons. 

Burr Oak is another cemetery that was founded to serve African Americans, opening in 1927. Emmet Till, the Chicago teenager whose murder in Mississippi helped to galvanize the civil rights movement is buried here. Many celebrities are also buried here, including musicians such as Dinah Washington and athletes such as basketball player Inman Jackson, who also played with the Harlem Globetrotters.